According to this NWI Times article posted yesterday, the UFC has scheduled Houston Alexander to face Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson in his UFC debut.
The fight will take place at the scheduled event known as "The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale" on Dec. 5 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.
The above source also states that the match has been agreed by both to be contested at a special catchweight of 215 pounds.
Alexander, in case you are wondering, is the powerful stand-up striker who took the cage-fighting world by storm by knocking out the established UFC 205-pound mainstay Keith Jardine in 48 seconds at the promotion's 71st event in May, 2007.
Unfortunately, however, they say that "there is someone for everyone," and even though the quote may have been intended for the love-lorn, the saying can also sometimes be applied to events that sometimes unfold in the world of combat sports.
That someone for Alexander came at UFC 78, in the form of a Brazilian brick-throwing knockout artist who was—at that time—an undefeated contender, Thiago Silva.
Silva, a hungry Brazilian headhunter, wasted no time in demonstrating to the packed crowd in attendance that, when it comes to big guns, he has two which are cocked, fully loaded, and able to deliver strikes with magnum force—and are also much more powerful than those of Alexander.
Silva won by TKO referee stoppage in the very first round, as he had the floundering Alexander on his back, mounted, and was raining down heavy power-punches and hammer-fists that were right on target.
This was the beginning of the end for Alexander, and after another quick loss to "The Sandman" James Irvin in April of '08, and a submission stoppage to Eric "Red" Schafer on a Spike-televised UFC Fight Night show, Alexander then quickly disappeared off the cage-fighting radar.
He has since surfaced once again, however, scoring a recent first-round TKO win, albeit in a subpar promotion against no-name opponent Sherman Pendergarst at Adrenaline MMA last month.
According to the source, this upcoming fight with Kimbo—which has been rumored for over a month—was originally going to take place at light heavyweight. But Ferguson, the source said, is not able to make the drop to 205 pounds, and the two fighters then agreed to fight at the 215-pound catchweight limit.
Ferguson tipped the scales at 230 pounds for his fight with Roy "Big Country" Nelson on The Ultimate Fighter show, which was filmed over the summer and was a disappointment for fans and a losing effort for Slice.
After the loss on the show—which was televised on Spike for millions to witness—it still remains a mystery to this writer just how the UFC will justify the upcoming matchup, when it will obviously be focusing on a loser of the reality show.
Maybe the good folks at Spike TV will simply hold it on the basis that fans are clamouring for it, which—depending who you ask—may or may not be true.
In any case, don't blink, because these two are both stand-up slugger-style fighters. As a result, something similar to a bare-knuckle boxing match should likely ensue, and thus the fight may not extend past the 30-second mark before one of the two is knocked out cold.
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